Oman Hosts 2nd Annual Meeting for Affordable Housing

MUSCAT, Oman, February 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Led by Eng. Abdullah Bin Rashid Al Kiyumi, Director General of Projects for the Ministry of Housing, Oman, the Affordable Housing Development Summit Oman 2012 will address the challenges of implementing and designing affordable housing programs and developments to meet the growing demand across the Middle East.

The Affordable Housing Development Summit Oman 2012 could not have come at a better time with reports of the Middle East and North Africa facing shortfalls of some 3.6 million units of affordable housing over the next five years unless the region's governments and property developers make a combined effort to solve the problem.

Several regional governments have earmarked affordable housing development schemes as a key priority, due to exponential population growth and the previous focus on luxury housing. The four-day summit will unite these governments with major developers, investors, banks and financial institutions, contractors, solution providers and international specialists to formulate strategies and source innovative services to address the increasing need for affordable housing.

Eng. Al Kiyumi will review the importance of developing affordable housing projects in Oman in order to provide housing assistance and soft loans for citizens of limited income and social security families.

Loay Ghazaleh, Advisor for the Ministry of Works, Bahrain will join the debate by encouraging the development of Public-Private Partnerships in the affordable housing sector to meet investment needs in the regions, in order to reduce  transaction costs and securing competitive bids.

His Excellency Muhammad bin Saif Al-Shabibi, Minister of Housing, Oman said: "Providing affordable housing continues to be a challenge within the current emerging Middle East market. Governments within the region are seeking exceptional development frameworks, strategies and legislation toward creating and sustaining affordable housing."

Further talks will be held by senior representatives including Oman Green Building Council, Affordable Housing Institute, MESA Formwork,  Al Madina Real Estate Company, Oman Ceramics, Sorouh Real Estate, Global Omani Development & Investment Company (GLOREI), Berger Paints, Al Anwar Ceramics, Alargan Towell Investment.

For more information on Affordable Housing Development Summit Oman 2012, go to http://www.affordablehousingme.com, contact +971-4-364-2975 or enquiry@icpc.ae